On the cone of effective 2-cycles on \(\overline{M}_{0,7}\) (Q904664)

Let \(\overline{M}_{0,n}\) be the moduli space of stable \(n\)-pointed rational curves. Fulton's question asks whether the cone of effective \(k\)-dimensional cycles on \(\overline{M}_{0,n}\) is generated by the \(k\)-dimensional boundary strata. For the case \(k=1\), that is for curves, this is the famous F-conjecture, which has been only verified for small \(n\). For the case of divisors, Keel and Vermeire ([\textit{P. Vermeire}, J. Algebra 248, No. 2, 780--784 (2002; Zbl 1039.14014)]) came up with the first counterexamples on \(\overline{M}_{0,6}\), called the Keel-Vermeire divisors. In the paper under review, the author focuses on the case of \(2\)-dimensional cycles on \(\overline{M}_{0,7}\). The main result shows that the \(2\)-dimensional boundary strata together with the lifts of the Keel-Vermeire divisors do not generate the cone of effective \(2\)-cycles on \(\overline{M}_{0,7}\), hence gives a negative answer to Fulton's question in the case \(k=2\). In order to prove the result, the author explicitly constructs an effective \(2\)-cycle, building on a related construction of \textit{A.-M. Castravet} and \textit{J. Tevelev} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 675, 121--180 (2013; Zbl 1276.14040)], and shows that it is not an effective combination of the aforementioned \(2\)-cycles. Along the way the author also describes explicitly the intersection theory of the \(2\)-dimensional boundary strata on \(\overline{M}_{0,7}\).